Abstract

Women incarceration rates in Portugal are rising, nevertheless, noncustodial sanctions should be chosen, whenever possible. This paper aims to understand which women are being sentenced to noncustodial sanctions and which are not, and what they think about their penalty, considering that the penalties’ effectiveness is linked to how they are experienced. A self-report questionnaire was administered to 152 Portuguese women serving custodial and non-custodial sentences. Results demonstrated that women were not spared from prison, regardless of their parental and marital situation and whether or not this was their first penalty or if it was a nonviolent crime conviction. The women generally considered their sentences to be unfair, and rehabilitation was not considered the purpose guiding judges’ sentencing decisions. Implications for the rehabilitation of justice-involved women are discussed since these perceptions might compromise their adherence to the penalties and minimize its effectiveness.

摘要

葡萄牙的女性监禁率正在上升，但应尽可能选择非拘禁制裁。本文旨在了解哪些妇女被判处非拘禁制裁，哪些不是，以及她们如何看待自己的刑罚，考虑到刑罚的有效性与她们的经历有关。对 152 名服刑和非监禁刑期的葡萄牙妇女进行了自我报告问卷调查。结果表明，无论她们的父母和婚姻状况如何，无论这是她们的第一次惩罚还是非暴力犯罪定罪，女性都未能免于入狱。这些妇女普遍认为她们的判决不公平，而康复并不是指导法官量刑决定的目的。